This is one of the views from the Shepherd Mountain hiking trail. It's about three miles, and the first mile and a half at least is up the side of a mountain.  A small mountain, but a mountain, nonetheless. My wife and I hiked it last weekend.  It was in July not March.  However, the temperature was in the 70's.  It was a beautiful but tiring walk, one we wouldn't have been able to complete just a few short weeks ago.  We have been going to a gym, and the experience has made us feel so much better.  I have lost roughly 18 pounds or so.  I weigh less now than I have for years.  Even bigger than the weight loss is the fact that I am toning.  My pulse has gone done.  It used to go in the 70's to 80's, but now, it usually stays in the 60's until I really exercise.  I am combining cardiac training with weight machines -- not the free weight kind. I can't do that stuff, nor do I want to.

It was a good day today.  Thirty one years ago, my wife and I got married.  Never mind that we took a wrong turn on the first night of our honeymoon and wound up at the gates of a mental hospital.  I wouldn't say it was a harbinger, but ...  We went to one of our favorite places for lunch, Mario's in Bonne Terre.  They have great Italian food.  Better than Pasta House I think, and it's reasonably priced too.

I got my first freelance writing job through elance today, and it is finished, accepted, and I reckon I will get paid tomorrow or the next day.  I know it doesn't always go that way, but it a fun start anyway.

The Cardinals lost their sixth game in a row tonight, and they are now two and a half games out of first place.  To make matters worse, Yadier Molina is on the DL for at least 15 days with a strained knee.  I am not a fair weather fan, but to be honest, I didn't think the Cardinals were even a playoff team at the beginning of the year.  Their inconsistency is frustrating.

I'm working on my screenplay.  Got a brilliant idea today.  I'm at 100 pages, so I am going to have to condense it.  I just need to get the rough draft finished.

That's all from me.